the Story
by LSRP
Summary: EpoV of meeting a different Bella, a powerful and strong Bella. She might be too different, but much is the same. My first FF, I'm assuming you know much and skipping the explanations. Not an Alice fan, so not much of that. HIATUS.


**I'm taking this story down until I get it re-written. I got stuck on Ch10 and realized it is because the timeline doesn't fit. I really want to get this story out or I'm going to go crazy with it stuck into my head. **

**Now I'll go be sad about my f**k up story. **

**First time I saw her**

* * *

I couldn't remember the moment my days started to blur together, but I could say it had been at least a decade since time was more than a single unending mass. I suppose the inability to sleep didn't help me to distinguish from one day to the next.

Vampire memory certainly would have helped me single out every moment of my existence previous to be sitting on that chair, at that moment, but it is not worth the effort. The only reason I was there, walking the halls of Forks High and pretending to be a teenager, was because Carlisle have asked me to.

My respect for him, my father in all the ways that matter, is what kept me in place. He loves me, I've known even then when nothing really registered, and that was the reason I stayed and followed the routine for him in the hopes to blend in –not that we ever could-, and avoid suspicion.

I suffered through it all for him, for my family. High School for the 7th time: Self-inflicted torture.

And that's how a 90 year-old vampire was sitting in a public's school cafeteria, in the company of other four vampires, pretending to eat human food.

"_Edward, you're too still again, idiot!" _

Rosalie has always been the one to care the most about appearances, and that wasn't the first time she have had to remind me to fidget or to blink that month. I was getting careless.

And it was as simple as that. I simply didn't care anymore, but about my family I do. They enjoy the life that Carlisle crafts for us in little towns where the sun very rarely shines, such as Forks, Washington.

By scolding me in something as simple as not fidgeting enough, Rosalie had reminded me of another role I had been neglecting, and so I made conscious effort to listen to the minds around us.

Most of the time, it is just a constant din of noise that I can simply ignore. After so many years, I had become rather disenchanted with mankind in account of the content of their heads. Even so, I listened.

"_Have you seen the new girl? Isabella, she's really pretty"_

"_I wonder where is she from. I heard she has an accent …"_

"_Isabella was wearing designer boots, I'm sure…"_

"_Is she here already? I hope she sits near"_

"_How soon is too soon to ask Isabella out? Maybe…"_

"_I hope she's on my next class…"_

"_Her hair is so long… Wow, everyone is looking at he... Ugh! I bet she's faking that accent … Why won't she say where is she from? … Maybe she doesn't understand… Was that Isabella's car? … "_

We had a new student. Even being as uninterested as I was then, I knew that was something I should have known. _Have I really been that oblivious?_

But it was her first day. Sheriff Swan's mystery niece was keeping everyone wondering, knowing nothing more that her name and the little her accent gave away against her will: European.

Until the day he showed up to register her for school, Sheriff Swan had not mentioned to anyone that he had family at all. I had only seen the man once, but his mind had been full with work and his concern with us being a problem. _So many teenagers together with young parents, and all. _

"Has anyone seen the new girl?" The question was intended to direct my siblings' thoughts only, but they only eyed me warily, not even considering my question for a moment.

"_Wow. I don't think I have heard him say a word on over a month"_

"_Why does he care? He never pays attention to anything anymore…"_

"_Welcome back to the land of the living, Edward"_

"_Did he notice?"_

Alice was trying extra hard to concealed her thought from me, even when it had been years since I had pay any attention without my name being called, or someone giving me a reason to. I wouldn't even look at me, so I let it go. I trust Alice and her judgment, she will always tell us when the time is right.

After they all got over the shock of hearing me ask about anything at all, my siblings finally regaled me with their knowledge of the girl, Isabella Swan, and even some images from Jasper who shared AP History with her.

Nothing I hadn't already heard in other minds. Isabella Swan, foreigner from an unknown location, moved to live here with her Uncle for unknown reasons.

The entire school had been talking about her, and all the unanswered questions surrounding her, for weeks now. Latter I would realize that to be the biggest evidence of the way I had been drifting by without being really conscious of anything.

I should have noticed from the memory that Jasper shared with me then that something was amiss with Isabella, but alas I didn't.

"_**Isabella was standing at the front of the class, with her eyes locked on the far wall and her expression blank. Jasper thought it was odd that he could read not nervousness from her, but there was a high level of anticipation in the room that he didn't seem to be able to sense past.**_

_** -'My name is Isabella Swan. I've moved here to live with my Uncle'. She kept looking ahead with a polite smile, obviously with no intention to add anything else.**_

_** - 'Where do you come from, Isabella?' Mr. Jeffrey asked.**_

_**She stared at him for a moment, no longer smiling. 'I've come to live with my Uncle', she repeated not looking away from him. **_

_**The teacher nodded and smiled under her unwavering gaze before directing her to sit with no more questions"**_

"_You wouldn't believe the disappointment that racked the place" _Jasper chuckled_ "And I think the accent is a mix between French and Italian"_

I nodded to Jasper, acknowledging that I caught what he was showing me in his mind.

I looked for her with my gift, and caught an image of her in the mind of Jessica Stanley. It would seem that Isabella has refused to answer any of Jessica's questions over the past two periods. Gossip is what Jessica lives for, and her inability to get anything out of Isabella is starting to get to her.

They were walking together into the cafeteria after their Spanish class ended a little late. Jessica was babbling endlessly to the girl about all the 'who is who', but Isabella didn't seem to be listening to her at all.

As walked out of the food line together, Jessica was confidently walking thinking how she got the new girl to sit with her, but Isabella suddenly stopped and her gazed swiped the place. She seemed to look at everyone's eyes, before her gaze stopped at the table where my family and I sat. I had been watching in the minds of others, as everyone attention was centered on her, but I felt the need to turn when I felt her eyes on me.

Golden met brown. I had never seen more beautiful brown eyes, but what I remember the most is the recognition that flew through them, and was only reflected in the smile she gave me.

The whole exchange only took a moment before her gaze moved to continue her inspection of the place. They finally seemed to settle on Angela Weber. She smiled brilliantly, walked straight to her and asked if she could sit there.

Angela was confused but happily encouraged her to sit. Jessica just stood stunned for a moment before walking to the same table, as was the everyday routine. Usually Jessica, Angela and Lauren Mallory shared a table with some boys I couldn't name, but Angela was always the shy one that aimed to please.

Lauren was the all-American beauty of Forks, a fact that she was no unaware of and was not ashamed to use to her advantage. She immediately saw Isabella as competition. She had noticed her smile at me, and was outraged.

"_Such a slut! How dare she? As if Edward Cullen would ever look at her twice"_. She Kept thinking that if I were to ever start dating, she would be the obvious choice. Until that moment, I hadn't even notice her, but Emmet mentioned to me later that she had tried to get my attention for the whole first year since our arrival.

"I see you've noticed the Cullens" Even from across the cafeteria, I could hear the venom in her voice. "Don't even bother. Edward is the only single one, and she doesn't date. _Anyone_".

Isabella turned to look at her as if just noticing her, and without a word returned her eyes to Angela.

"I heard something about rules regarding this _Lunch time_. Tell me. Is it true that I cannot go out to get some real food? Maybe to a little _café_ nearby?"

Everyone seemed shocked that she would simply disregard Lauren like that, but I couldn't help but smile.

Her voice was soft and pleasant, with quite a noticeable accent. Jasper was right, of course, it sounded like a mix between French and Italian. It made absolute sense for her to be from Italian descent with a name such as _Isabella. _

But it was hearing her voice, that I realized that there were no corresponding thoughts. There was only silence from her mind. Frustration. _Why can't I hear her? How is that even possible? _

I turned to look in her direction again. She had found a friend in Angela with their shared passion against cafeteria food.

Isabella Swan is undoubtedly pretty, in a simple and unassuming way. Her extremely long brown hair, loosely braided with a red ribbon interwoven and falling softly to her lower back. Rebellious little pieces of it fall on her face, showcasing her big eyes, eyes only made more spectacular by the small amount of black eyeliner she puts on every morning.

And then, I saw her laugh for the first time. It was a bright and honest laugh, and even from that distance away, I was entranced by it. In that moment, as it always does when she laughs, her face seemed to glow. Simply beautiful.

All the sudden, as if she could feel my gaze, Isabella turned to look directly at me. She held my eyes, before smiling softly at me. It was just a moment, but that smile melted the world around.

Breaking the connection, she turned and asked Angela to help her find her locker. They left together, leaving me behind in absolute confusion.

_What just happened? _

And then my mind went back to the original problem. Her silent mind. You would think that I would be grateful for one less mind to crowd my own, but in that moment I there was nothing I wanted more that to know what was going through her head when she smiled at me like that.

I was still watching the door that closed behind Isabella's exit, when Rosalie's voice broke brought me back to rationality.

"Shall we?" Everyone followed Rosalie's signal and took their untouched food trays as we left the cafeteria. I purposefully avoided mentioning Isabella Swan or her immunity to my gift to my siblings. I was not ready for them to know yet.

I was in my way to my next class when I noticed Jasper watching me. That was the first time I realized he was searching for something in me with his own gift.

He was standing in the middle of the hallway that led to his next class, looking at me. His mind was a haze of emotions that I couldn't really understand. Being an empath, Jasper can think without words and the only impression I got from him then was the search. He was measuring me for something, collecting data.

I was about to ask when he shook his head and walked away without a word. Just then, I didn't think anything of it.


End file.
